Strip members for forming slideways for glass panes



F. MESNEL March 26, 1968 STRIP MEMBERS FOR FORMING SLIDEWAYS FOB GLASS PANES Original Filed May 20, 1965 UUUU //v VE/VTOR s MES/Vfl Flu/1 0i B Y United States Patent Office 3,374,578 Patented Mar. 26, 1968 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A frame member for a glass pane comprising a holder having a generally U-shaped cross-section in which is force-fitted a slideway for directly receiving the glass pane for sliding displacement therein. The slideway is constituted by an elongated extruded body which is U- shaped in cross section and is of a size to fit into the holder groove. A plurality of independent resilient strips are embedded in the base to extend transversely thereof at spaced intervals. The strips have sharp ends and a length greater than the width of the base and of the groove whereby the body is force-fitted into the groove to the bottom thereof with the retaining strip indening into the walls of the groove to retain the body in position in the groove.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 457,327, filed May 20, 1965, now abandoned.

This invention concerns strip members for forming slideways for glass panes.

As a rule, slideways for panes of glass, whether reinforced or not, and including those employed in relation to windows of motor vehicles, require fixing either by sticking, which is often very unreliable, or by separate fixing means. It is an object of the invention to provide an arrangement which does not rely on the use of an adhesive and wherein the need for separate fixing means is obviated.

Self-fixing slideways are already known, but these require special and costly preliminary treatment of the sheetmetal work into which the slideways fit, whereas the underlying principle of the present invention is to enable the slideway to be self-fixing-without any preparatory treatment of the sheet-metal work or other material into which the slideway is to fit and thus to enable the slideway to be used for a very wide range of jobs.

According to the present invention there is provided a strip member, for location into a groove to provide a slideway for a glass pane, characterised by retaining means for retaining the slideway in its groove, said retaining means providing sharp projections protruding from the slideway at opposite sides thereof.

The invention also provides a method of making the strip member aforesaid wherein such strip is extruded by use of a die and the retaining means is incorporated therein during such extrusion.

As a further feature, the invention also provides a frame member, for a glass panel, comprising a holder having a groove therein, and a strip member as aforesaid accommodated in the groove to provide a slideway for the glass pane, said strip member being retained in position by the sharp projections engaging into the material of the holder.

For a better understanding of the novel features and the advantages thereof, the invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate various embodiments of the invention and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation showing a portion of a strip member according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional end elevation corresponding to the line A-A of FIG. 1 but showing the strip member in position in a holder so as to form, with the latter, a frame member for a glass pane;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of one of a plurality of retainers which are incorporated in the strip member of FIGS. 1 and 2; I

FIG. 4 is an end view similar to FIG. 2 but showing 7 another embodiment of the strip member of the invention, without its holder;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view showing an alternative form of retained means which may be incorporated in the strip member of the invention in the place of the retainers illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 of another alternative form of retainer means; and

FIG. 7 is a similar view of yet another alternative form of retainer means.

Referring initially to FIG. 2, this illustrates a frame member for a glass pane (not shown) comprising a holder in the form of a channel sectioned metal strip 1 providing a groove wherein is accommodated a strip member 2 which serves to provide a slideway for the glass pane. Fixing of the strip member 2 into the groove of the holder 1 is achieved simply by pushing it into such groove.

As shown, the Strip member 2 is generally of U-shaped cross-section the free ends of the limbs of the U having serif-like projections or thickened parts which project towards each other partially across the slideway defined by the U, and the strip member 2 is retained in its position in the groove of the holder 1 by retaining means 3 in the form of a plurality of fine metal rods, strips or the like which are spaced at intervals along the strip member 1 and are each of length just slightly greater than the overall width of the strip member 2 and the internal width of the groove in the holder 1. Thus, as the strip member 2 is pressed into the holder 1, the retained rods, strips or the like each take up a curved configuration as shown in FIG. 2, the resilience of the material thereof permitting this. Also as shown, the retainer rods, strips gr the like 3 are embedded in the base of the strip mem- The retainer strips or the like 3 can each be cut, for instance, to the shape shown in plan in FIG. 3 or, they can take the form of ordinary steel wires or wires of a metal of suitable hardness and resilience. The ends of the members 3 are effectively sharpened as a result of the burrs produced thereon by cutting the strips; consequently, when the strips 3 take up their curved configurations as shown in FIG. 2 they tend to penetrate into the material of the holder 1 and become jammed, so that the risk of the strip member 1 disengaging from the groove of the holder 1 is very small.

The shape of the strip member 2 can be selected as required without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, it could have the W-shape shown in FIG. 4 which provides two slideways. The slideway can conveniently be produced by extrusioni.e., a flexible substance which may or may not contain a vulcaniser and which is on a basis of natural rubber or synthetic elastomers or plastics is extruded through a die of the required shape. If required, the extruder die can be associated with a punch or the like, for example having an internal guide so disposed in the extruder head as to distribute and centre the metal part 3 in the base of the extruded strip member 2 at any or predetermined intervals and substantially at the centre of the thickness of the slideway base; the parts 3 are previously cut, calibrated and treated to acquire the required mechanical properties and an ability to stick to the extruded products, for instance by brass plating if the extruded material is rubber.

It therefore becomes possible continuously to produce a strip member for a slideway whose base has a large number of small sharp lateral metal projections spaced apart as required for appropriate engagement with its holder.

Another way of ensuring a required distribution of the metal projections is to prepare a metal strip to a suitable shape providing the necessary sharp projections and to incorporate this into the strip member as it is extruded by passing it through the extruding die with the material being extruded.

One such metal strip is shown in FIG. 5. This comprises two parallel longitudinal edge portions connected at intervals along its length by transversely extending portions, the sharp projections being provided at intervals along the outer edges of the edge portions and in alignment with the transversely extending portions.

Another suitable form for the metal strip is shown in FIG. 6. This strip is generally of crenellated form being composed of a plurality of transversely extending portions alternate ends of which are connected together in pairs by longitudinally extending edge portions whereon the projections are provided.

The shapes to which such a strip can be cut or shaped can, of course, vary widely, and the invention covers all forms of cutting and the use of other metal mattresses or the like made, for instance, of expanded metal, in order to reduce the weight of metal, and the use of heat and surface treatment of the metal thus used.

The metal strips or mattresses or the like are, of course, incorporated into the base of the strip member so that the burrs or other projections point outwards as in FIG. 2, to facilitate positioning of the strip member in its holder and to ensure that the strip member is firmly retained by the projections.

A simple steel wire which is bent or zigzagging, as shown in FIG. 7, can also be used to provide the projections. In this case the elbows of the zigzags are made claw-like, for instance, by hammering. Also, strips, as 3, can be of any desired shape and inter alia can be adapted for effective incorporation into and retention by the extruded material.

The strip member of the invention can be covered, for instance by means of velvet fabric or by flock or fibres being applied either by sticking thereto a covering strip having a textile support or by direct flocking; moreover, the invention contemplates, within its scope, the feeding of the strip material to a roller machine which serves, for instance, for automatically positioning the slideway into 'the groove of a continuous holder, the assembly so formed subsequently being cut into short frame members. This could be useful inter alia for long production runs, as is often the case in the motor-vehicle industry.

The invention is not of course limited to Windowpane slideways for motor vehicles but covers all other uses, for instance, building. Similarly, the means and processes described are purely exemplary and are intended to illustrate afew possibilities. Variations can, of course, be made to the details given, 'without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A frame member for a glass pane, comprising:

(a) a holder defining an elongated groove having a U- shaped cross-section;

(b) a slideway for directly receiving said glass-pane for sliding displacement therein; said slideway comprising an elongated extruded body made of flexible material and formed of a pair of spaced side limbs interconnected by a base; said body of a size to fit into said holder groove;

(0) a plurality of slideway resilient metallic strips independent of one another and embedded in said base transversely thereof during extrusion of said slideway in such a manner as to be almost completely enveloped by said flexible material; said strips spaced at intervals along said base and having sharp ends and a length greater than the width of said base and of said groove;

(d) said body fitted into said groove to the bottom thereof, base first, whereby said retaining strips indent into the walls of said groove, in groove bottom position of said body, to retain the said body into said groove.

2. A frame member as claimed in claim 1, wherein said retaining strips are arcuate in longitudinal elevation with the sharp ends thereof pointing towards said limbs.

3. A frame member as claimed in claim 1, wherein said slideway has a center limb and is W-shaped in crosssection.

4. In a frame member, the combination comprising:

(a) a glass pane;

(b) a holder defining an elongated groove having a U-shaped cross-section;

(c) a slideway into which said glass pane is directly received for sliding displacement therein; said slideway comprising an elongated extruded body made of flexible material and formed of a pair of spaced side limbs interconnected by a base; said body of a size to fit into said holder groove;

(d) a plurality of slideway resilient metallic strips independent of one another and embedded in said base transversely thereof during extrusion of said slideway in such a manner as to be almost completely enveloped by said flexible material; said strips spaced at intervals along said base and having sharp ends and a length greater than the Width of said base and of said groove;

(c) said body fitted into said groove to the bottom thereof, base first, whereby said retaining strips indent into the walls of said groove, in groove bottom position of said body, to retain the said body into said groove.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,688,371 10/1928 Bailey 49489 X 2,821,430 1/1958 Grede 49440 2,954,310 9/1960 Truesdale et al. 52716 X 3,131,439 5/1965 Wilfert 49440 X 3,222,769 12/1965 Leplae 52-716 X FOREIGN PATENTS 809,652 2/1959 Great Britain.

942,702 11/1963 Great Britain.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

PHILLIP C. KANNAN, Assistant Examiner. 

